


Grey Sky Morning

by goddessofcruelty



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Lord of the Rings (Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Femslash, Femslash February, Pining, Rare Pairings, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2015-02-21
Packaged: 2018-03-14 08:23:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3403682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goddessofcruelty/pseuds/goddessofcruelty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once Tauriel might have taken her king to task, once she might have chased down Legolas to join the adventure with him, but she has had enough of adventure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Grey Sky Morning

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Tauriel of Mirkwood/Arwen Undomiel

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“Tauriel.”

Soft eyes, a blend of gray and brown, slowly lift to glance at the speaker. Her king, and by the arch of his brow, he's been speaking her name for some time. She rises, again slowly, the world feels as if it's underwater.

“Tauriel,” he says again, “Have something.” She glances dully at the plated offering and obediently chooses, nibbles at something she could not have named, and then takes another at Thranduil's encouraging nod.

Tauriel drifts through that day and the next, through the rebuilding of the human Bard's town, lingers as long as her king does, though his son, her friend, has vanished from the elf camp. She rouses herself one day to ask after Legolas, and the king's eyes shutter a moment before he responds.

“Gone to seek his doom,” is all Thranduil will say of whatever has occurred between them.

Once Tauriel might have taken her king to task, once she might have chased down Legolas to join the adventure with him, but she has had enough of adventure, and so she withdraws inside herself, and stays with the humans a while longer.

It's not until the elves are finally ready to depart that Tauriel realizes that she does not wish to return to Mirkwood. She considers all the night before, until she is firmly certain.

Thranduil seems unsurprised. He tilts his head ever so slightly, considering a moment. Tauriel is patient. At last he suggests she seek out other elvenkind, for she is not alone in being the only one to have been hurt by those not of their race. She bows her head in acquiescence, and then watches her people march away. Tauriel spends one more night, a lone elf among humans, before she too takes her leave.

The elf drifts for a while, visiting places she's only heard of in story, covering her ears and passing silently when she can. She wanders restlessly, unable to rest in any one place until she comes to Rivendell. Something settles within her as she crosses its borders and comes face to face with her kind for the first time in a very long time.

They question her in their tongue, and she answers in her own, similar but not the same. There's a quick flicker of gazes and then she's led to what's obviously a receiving room, and left alone. Or with the seeming of aloneness. Tauriel's a born ranger and she can pinpoint all four of the hidden guards. Still she hasn't come for strife, and so she perches lightly on the couch.

To her surprise, she isn't joined by Lord Elrond Half-Even, but by his daughter, Arwen  Undómiel, the Evenstar of her people. Tauriel rises smoothly, puts her fist over her heart and bows her body over it, as deep an obeisance as she can give. Tauriel is used to a somewhat less formal Court. Thranduil- in the way of his father – doesn't hold with pomp and circumstance. Oropher wasn't a born lord, but a made one and never forgot it.

“Lady Tauriel,” Arwen greets her, and Tauriel can't help the wry quirk that comes to her lips. 

“I'm no Lady,” she says softly. “Not such as yourself.” 

Arwen inclines her head with a soft smile and then steps back, gesturing for Tauriel to walk with her. There is an oddly companionable silence, and Tauriel admires the gardens and carvings as they pass. Arwen leads her to a secluded area, devoid of greenery, just a small expanse of white rock, with a bench placed in the center. She gestures for Tauriel to join her, which the wood elf does, eyes flicking up to study the Lady's face.

“The ravages of grief are in your eyes,” Arwen says at last and Tauriel is forced to look away.

“It will pass,” is all she says, and Arwen reaches out, gently laying her hand upon the other elf's.

“It will become easier to bear,” she says, and Tauriel hears the echo of her sorrow, flicks her gaze up. Arwen smiles gently. “Aye, I have felt that sting.”

Tauriel does not know what to say, so she says nothing, just sits there in the silence of the white rocks with the Lady's hand upon hers.

“Come, Tauriel,” Arwen says at last. “We shall distract one another.”

Tauriel follows readily enough, pads silently behind the Lady to an open clearing, her eyes alighting upon distantly placed targets, automatically judging the distance, before she remembers and drops her eyes again.

“You have the callouses of an archer,” Arwen murmurs, making the statement seem like a question.

“He was also an archer,” Tauriel surprises herself by saying, and Arwen nods sympathetically, and then hands her an elegantly carved bow.

“Show me.” It's nearly a command and Tauriel chooses to take it as such, gently lifting the bow and shaking her head. She replaces it and chooses another, smaller but thicker, without the carved elegance of the former. She lifts her eyes and looks at the Lady of Rivendell, then draws and shoots to the side, hitting the target dead on, without breaking the locked gaze. Tauriel can see by the arch of Arwen's brow that she's impressed the older elf, and she proceeds to show Arwen every trick she knows.

Arwen's eyes twinkle delightedly when Tauriel's finished and claps her hands.

“Thank you, Tauriel,” she laughs and rises, waits until the wood elf has replaced the bow upon the stand and retrieved her arrows before reaching out and clasping her hand. Arwen leads her to her own solar, where refreshments are waiting, airy bread, sweet fruit, and even sweeter wine.

“Shall we help each other forget?” Arwen says softly once the repast has been eaten and the wine has been sipped.

Tauriel lifts her eyes up to the Lady's face. “Will it help?”

“For a time,” Arwen shrugs.

Tauriel nods her acquiescence and Arwen rises, reaches for the younger woman and pulls her close. Tauriel is forced to lift her chin, to look up at the taller elf as Arwen's mouth lowers onto hers. Tauriel tastes the sweetness of the wine as Arwen's tongue slides across hers, and then she is scooped up, lifted in strong arms and taken to the large soft bed in the next room.

Arwen takes her time about distracting Tauriel, unerringly finding each and every spot upon her body that sends lightning through her. It gets to be too much, and she's forced to tug Arwen down onto her, though she's as yet fully clothed.

Arwen's clever fingers bring Tauriel to the height of ecstasy, plunging into her while the other continues exploring. When Tauriel's breathing has returned to normal, she reaches to the older woman and reciprocates, with the soft encouragement of the Lady.

Later, they curl in front of the fire and speak in soft whispers of their hearts' burden before returning to Arwen's bed. They pass several weeks like this before Tauriel feels the tug to continue her journey.

Arwen knows before she does, has her things ready to go when the wood elf comes to inform her.

“Be well on your journey, little one,” Arwen says. “Remember me and smile.”

Tauriel lowers her head in a promise and then begins her journey away from Rivendell, the memories a soft barrier between the darkness of her grief, and she is thankful for her time with the Lady.


End file.
